GRE Vocab; shaving

shaving (n); very thin piece, usually of wood

GRE Vocab; Grimace "joke"

Grimace(n); a facial distortion to show feeling such as pain, disgust etc
Poor Ruben
Young Ruben, a poor man without education or social background falls in love with a millionaires daughter. She invites him to her house for dinner and to meet her parents.
Dinner is served in luxurious style and Ruben is just beginning to relax when suddenly he farts loudly. The girls father looks up and then stares at the large dog lying at Rubens feet.
"Rover," he calls out and the dog waves his tail. Ruben is relieved that the dog has been blamed, but just then cuts another fart. His host looks up and in a louder voice says, "Rover!"
The dog looks up but yawns and goes back to sleep. Within minutes, Ruben farts again. The rich father grimaces and shouts to his dog, "Rover, get out from under there before he shits all over you!"

GRE Vocab; centaur

Centaur (n): (Greek mythology), a creature with the head, arms, and torso of a man and the body and legs of a horse.

GRE Vocab; artisan

artisan (n); manually skilled worker; craftsmanship, as opposed to artist

GRE Vocab; arsenal

arsenal (n); storage place for military equipments

Words with Similar Meanings: Burnish

burnish(v); make shiny by rubbing; to polish

Sentence: He burnished the silver coffee pot until it shown brightly.

Words with Similar Meanings: Burnish

1. Buff
2. Luster
3. Polish
4. Scour  

GRE Vocab; varnish

varnish; to brighten wood by coating

GRE Vocab; calligraphy

Calligraphy (n): beautiful writing; excellent penmanship

GRE Vocab; solitude

Solitude (n): state of being alone, seclusion

Language has created the word loneliness to express the pain of being alone, and the word solitude to express the glory of being alone.

GRE group: Astronomy

1. Astronomy (n): the scientific study of the sun, moon, stars, planets
   Astronomical (adj): relating to astronomy
                                 :  (of an amount) extremely large
   Analogy: ASTROLOGY: ASTRONOMY:: alchemy: chemistry (Old to new)
2. Astral (adj): relating to the stars
3. Aureole (n): sun’s corona; halo
4. Auroral (adj): pertaining to aurora borealis
5. Nova (n): Astronomy: a star showing a sudden large increase in brightness and then slowly returning to normal
6. Constellation (n): a group of stars forming a recognized pattern and typically named after a mythological or other figure
                             : a group of associated people or things
   Analogy: CONSTELLATION: STARS:: mosaic: tile (made up of )

GRE Vocab; pugilist

pugilist (n); boxer
the famous pugilist Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammed ali.

GRE Vocab; billowing

Billowing(adj): swelling out  in waves; surging
standing over the air vent, Marilyn Monroe tried vainly to control her billowing skirts

GRE Vocab; drawbridge

GRE Vocab; isthmus

isthmus (n): narrow neck of land connecting two larger bodies of land in a magnificent feat of engineering.

GRE Vocab; arable

arable (adj); fit for growing crops

GRE Vocab; arrest

Arrest (v): stop or check; seize or capture (the attention).
temporary ARREST of the patients respiration made it easier for the doctor to perform surgery on him.

GRE Vocab; apothegm

Apothegm(n): pithy, compact saying
political apothegms; “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

GRE Vocab; anthem

Anthem (n): song of praise or patriotism

GRE Vocab; arboretum

arboretum (n): place where different varieties of trees and shrubs are studied and exhibited

GRE Vocab; atheist

atheist (n); one who denies the existence of god

GRE Vocab; Do not criticize

1.     Rankle(v): irritate; fester
if you argue, rankle, and contradict; you may achieve a victory sometimes; but it will be an empty victory because you will never get your opponents good will (Ben Franklin)

2.     Futile (adj): useless; hopeless; ineffectual
criticism is futile because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself.

3.     Resentment (n): indignation; bitterness; displeasure

4.     Engender (v): produce
the resentment that criticism engenders can demoralize employees, family members, and friends and still not correct the situation that has been condemned.

5.     Rebuke (v): scold harshly; criticize severely
sharp criticism and rebukes almost invariably end in futility.

6.     Wither(v): shrivel; decay
abilities wither with criticism; they blossom under encouragement

7.      Approbation (n): approval
Analogy: CALUMNY: ASPERSIONS:: approbation: praise

8.     Lavish (adj); liberal; wasteful.
 “Be, hearty in approbation and lavish in your praise".

GRE Vocab; Archaeology

archaeology (n): Study of artifacts and relics of early mankind.

GRE Vocab; Apiary

Apiary (n); a place where bees are kept

GRE Vocab; Amazon

amazon (N); Female warrior
Ever since the days of Greek Mythology we refer to strong and aggressive women as amazons.

GRE Vocab; Revere; Preeminent

 1. Revere  (V); to respect highly; to honor
Reverence (N), irreverence(ant)
Reverent(adj); respectful; worshipful
   2. Preeminent (adj): Outstanding; superior
Einstein was a preeminent scientist who was revered by everyone, even his rivals.